Sappada

Sappada, Italy is located in the Italian Dolomites, aka: the Alps. We arrived at our resort Saturday evening around 7:00 and checked in. We were thrilled to pay for linens (sheets, towels, etc.). That was a new one. But we had a little kitchen, a living room area and bedroom and bathroom. We also got to do laundry, which, after the sweatiness of Venice was a very good thing. We walked the streets of Sappada, and it was a charming little town. The first time (and a couple other times) I was compelled to sing "The Hills Are Alive" because of the soaring mountain peaks and fields of wildflowers. Cows mooing. Small school children in cute hats. It was kind of shocking beauty. On one of our walks I saw the biggest snails ever. They were two inches tall. It was kind of cool and kind of gross. Sadly, I didn't have my camera to document their enormity. So most days we would go into the village and find an alimentari (like a miniature grocery store) and get some sustenance. We also found the fruiteria. All kinds of fruits and vegetables. And the pasticeria (bakery). And the gelateria. Actually, there were three gelaterias. We tried them all. There were some cute shops with American clothes and Italian shoes. They were really expensive. All the shops opened at eight and closed at noon, then reopened around 3:30 until seven. A weird system, which we did not figure out for a few days. It didn't align well with our sleeping till noon schedule. This is basically a ski village, so its busy season is winter and it was pretty calm while we were there. Okay, downright boring at times. We had two English channels: BBC and CNN World. Let me tell you, they repeat the same news alot. We got to enjoy the Italian sports network where there were volleyball games and Olympic tryouts.

One day we ventured over to Austria, which was about two hours away on roads with hairpin curves. It looked pretty much like Sappada. However, we did stumble upon this castle on a hill. We went and walked around it, but it was all locked up and there were no signs, so we don't know what it was or anything, but still. Ancient Austrian castle. Pretty cool.

So mostly our days in Sappada were marked by trying to find sustenance, watching news re-runs, and doing lots of crossword puzzles. We could have gone to the indoor pool, but we would have had to pay to use it. Also, we had to pay to use the internet. Strange European customs.

Sappada was beautiful, but boring, and we were glad to get out of there a day early and head to Florence. An impromptu side trip. So some pictures from Sappada and Austria:

Sappada, or a town like it


Sappada (The Hills Are Alive!)


Our hotel living room


The view from our bathroom window


There was a little wildlife park in Sappada where they kept deer. I didn't get to pet them.


A little backyard garden in Austria


The sign telling us we were entering Austria. It was basically in a lumberyard.


The castle we found and me


Castle and us


And once more from a distance